Cape Town - Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has denied that the South African government has missed the deadline to pay R500 million to join Covax.
Covax is a global mechanism for pooled procurement and equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.
Mboweni told Parliament on Friday during the adoption of the Budget that the deadline to take part in Covax is December 15.
This followed a question in the House from the opposition whether the government had not stuck to the deadline.
South Africa is part of a group of middle-income countries that were to receive the vaccine.
Mboweni said the country was still on track to join Covax by meeting the deadline for all countries who are part of it.
“The fact of the matter is that we have sufficient time until 15 December to do the payment. We did not miss the deadline at all and the Solidarity Fund stands ready to pay the R500m that has been promised. We have not missed the deadline at all,” said Mboweni.
Mboweni’s comments also came after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced to the nation on Thursday that the Solidarity Fund would make the payment to join Covax.
Political Bureau